Hon-Yin and Suet-Fong Chan Professor, School of Chinese, University of Hong Kong
I recently gave a talk at the 2nd Simon Fraser University Workshop on Asian Philosophy, which was held October 25–26, 2025. The theme of this year’s workshop was “Death and Immortality.” My contribution was a reflection on a striking line in Zhuangzi that claims our death can be considered good on the same grounds that make life…
My recent book Late Classical Chinese Thought is the topic of a book discussion in the most recent issue of Philosophy East & West. The table of contents is here, and a preprint of my contribution is here. I am grateful to the commentators—Henry Allen, Karyn Lai, Huanyou Li, Winnie Sung, and Ellie Wang—for their rich critical feedback.
Our new Stanford Encyclopedia article on Dai Zhen 戴震 — co-authored by Frank Chong and myself — has finally been published: Dai Zhen. Along with the forthcoming Dao Companion volume on Dai Zhen and Justin Tiwald’s work in progress, this piece is part of a well-deserved surge of interest in Dai, who is among the most…
I recently recorded an entertaining podcast conversation with my colleagues Justin Tiward (HKU) and Richard Kim (Loyola) about Zhuangist ethics, in which our starting point is how the Zhuangzi story of the goose that couldn’t honk offers a critical response to other Zhuangzi writings on the theme of the use of the useless. The podcast…
My new annotated translation of the Zhuangzi has been published by Oxford University Press in the UK and is available for pre-order in North America, with delivery in February. The book is part of the very reasonably priced Oxford World’s Classics series. The cover image reflects a prominent motif in the Zhuangzi, the useless tree….
My new monograph Zhuangzi: Ways of Wandering the Way has just been published in the UK by Oxford University Press. It is scheduled to ship in North America on August 1. A 30% discount is available by ordering online at https://global.oup.com/academic/ using promotion code AAFLYG6.
Update: Videos from this event have recently been posted on line. My talk is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38U1Pl8yl98 I spoke (virtually) on March 14, 2023, at a rewarding workshop on the Zhuangzi entitled “2023 Zhuangzi beyond the Inner Chapters in Seoul,” hosted by the K-Academic Expansion Project, Institute of Korean Philosophy and Culture, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul,…
In what is probably among the first events of its kind — and I hope a harbinger of more — the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at CUHK is organizing an international workshop wholly devoted to the major Qing thinker Dai Zhen 戴震 on March 15-16. The workshop announcement is here. My paper…
On February 2, the very constructive Sihaiweixue 四海為學 program organized by Paul D’Ambrosio hosted a book discussion on my recent book, Late Classical Chinese Thought. It was an honor and a pleasure to discuss the book with Karyn Lai, Winnie Sung, and Ellie Wang, among with Paul and other participants. A recording of the conversation…
In October I was honored to be invited to speak at “How Legitimate is the Philosophical Canon,” a conference on comparative Greek-Chinese philosophy held at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I am grateful to Pantelis Golitsis for organizing this event. My contribution to the discussion is linked here: Aristotle and Xunzi on the Good Life